WORCESTER – Reid Walker (Lithia, FL) dropped 21 points while Anderas Bitsos (Athens, Greece) added a career-high 16 points as WPI stayed within the city limits to defeat Worcester State, 88-72, in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night in Lancer Gymnasium.
The Engineers are now 2-1 heading into Saturday's game at Albertus Magnus while the Lancers (0-4) look to secure their first win a week from tonight versus Skidmore.
Chris Rodgers (Franklin, MA) chipped in with 14 points and game-bests of eight assists and six rebounds. Jake Wisniewski (West Brookfield, MA) totaled nine points and Aaron Todd (York, ME) scored seven as both hauled in five boards.
Cal Howes (Maynard, MA) led the Lancers with 19 points followed by Shaun McCarthy (Oxford, MA) and Will Watkins Jr. (Southbridge, MA) with 15 and 14 respectively. Joe Desormier (Granby, MA) handed out six assists.
The Lancers enjoyed an early 7-3 lead following a triple by Watkins 2:11 into the game. Wisniewski used a personal 4-0 run to even it up with 16:17 showing on the scoreboard. With 11:46 left in the frame, Walker began an 8-0 run, that saw the rookie net seven points, for the 25-15 lead. Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plains, MA) broke up the spurt with a triple at 8:57; however, the Engineers went on to score the next 10 for the 35-18 cushion with 4:49 until the intermission. The teams eventually headed back to the locker room with the guests ahead 44-32.
The Engineers maintained a 10-point lead for the majority of the second half. Worcester State got within eight with 4:48 remaining following free throws from McCarthy. Though, Bitsos and Todd accounted for eight consecutive points with 4:24 on the clock to advance the visitors lead to 20. Worcester State fought back with a triple from Erik Bjorn (Holden, MA) and a layup from Watkins, but WPI had already put the game away and the night concluded with an 88-72 win for the Engineers.
WPI had sizable margins in points off turnovers (25-14), second chance points (15-5), fast break points (10-6), bench points (39-14), and a gap of 50-22 in the paint.
Portion Release Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information